


Love At First Bite

by codysepipen, phido



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Diners, F/M, M/M, Multi, diner au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-03-07 14:36:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18875182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codysepipen/pseuds/codysepipen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phido/pseuds/phido
Summary: Courtney Hayden's life is a never-ending cycle of specific routines. She has a part-time job, a successful senior class president campaign, and colleges fighting over her. Everything is perfect. Except for one new abnormality: Duncan Cross. He sends her usually predictable days at her parents' diner spiraling into a chronicle of denial, probably-illegal escapades, and a love she never thought she'd find.





	1. Chapter One

The last drizzle of the late April showers droned on outside the bay window as Courtney finished breakfast. It was 5:30 am; the time Courtney usually awoke to shower and get ready for her nine hour Saturday shift. In order to catch the bus at 6:15, she would need to be out the front door by 6:08; a schedule she had calculated minute by minute over the last year. A familiar brush of fur against the back of her calf was her cue to feed Brittany, the cat she’d had since the age of thirteen.  
Courtney Hayden’s morning routine was not necessarily voluntary, as it had just become habitual after only a few days of performing the very specific set of tasks at much too specific times. But she didn’t mind, really. Punctuality was order. And order gave her a sense of security.  
After completing her set tasks at home, Courtney exited her parents house on the outskirts of Condervale, New York, making sure to secure both locks on the front door, and walked to the bus stop two blocks away. Though the light rain had stopped, the air was still thick with moisture; the humidity causing her perfectly styled hair to begin to frizz. Courtney furiously tried to smooth it down as she stepped onto the perfectly-on-time transport, catching her reflection in the dark-tinted windows as she took her seat in the third row. Even though Courtney was a strong believer in the fact that what she was doing and where she was going was far more important than anyone else, she always had the habit of leaving the first two rows of seats open for the handicapped and people with small children. This being one of the only lessons in courtesy her mother had ever impressed upon her in her rushed youth. Courtney’s parents, Alice and Jeremy Hayden, owned the 50’s-style diner where Courtney worked part-time as a waitress on the weekends and during the summer. This particular weekend happened to be the beginning of Spring Break, and while all of her friends were going to be out of town on road trips or family vacations starting tomorrow, Court’s parents were going to Old Orchard Beach, Maine for the week; leaving their only child home alone. She didn’t mind of course. She was seventeen and had been staying by herself since before she could remember. It would be a perfect opportunity to work on her senior class president campaign or her college admission forms.  
As the bus pulled up to her stop, Courtney rose, straightening out the skirt of her employee uniform, which was a baby blue vintage waitress dress replica that was buttoned up just high enough for tasteful modesty, but cut short enough to get and hold the attention of particularly, well...male customers. The roller-skates were the only hassle, which she would replace her flats with once she got inside.  
When Courtney reached the diner at 6:25, she flipped the sign on the front door to ‘open’ in preparation for the beginning of 6:30’s breakfast rush. The unlocked door meant Heather was already here, which was unusual considering the fact that her ‘boyfriend’ had no doubt spent the night at her house last night. The senior in question was standing behind the counter, pressing in random buttons on the cash register for no apparent reason.  
“You’re here early,” Courtney noted as she walked through the ‘employees only’ door and sat down on a chair to change shoes, “I assumed you’d be at least ten minutes late since Alejandro was at your place last night.”  
Heather’s head snapped to the side, glaring in Courtney’s direction, “Alejandro and I are no longer together.”  
Courtney placed the back of her hand against her forehead, feigning barely-believable shock, “No! You’re kidding.” Heather rolled her eyes, returning her focus back to the cash register as the clock on the wall finally read 6:30 and customers started rolling in. 

A few hours later, Courtney was wiping down a recently vacated table when the bell over the glass front doors tinkled. She wouldn’t have thought anything of it had it not been 11:45 on a Saturday. As she began to walk back towards the kitchen, trying to ignore the figure that she knew was walking through the entryway. Her suspicions were confirmed when a low and all-too-familiar voice echoed at her back.  
“Good morning Heather,” Duncan said to the dark-haired girl at the counter, not yet noticing Courtney as she slipped around the corner.  
Duncan Cross was a senior at Courtney’s high school. He was a self proclaimed ‘bad boy’ who had a habit of skipping class, pulling pranks, and getting arrested every now and then. He was a bit taller than her, maybe 5’10” and had a slim athletic build, more from running from the cops than doing any sports. Duncan’s most off-putting feature was his jet black hair, which would have been fine in itself if it wasn’t topped with a neon green mohawk. He came in to Hayden’s every Saturday at 11:45, just before his shift as a lifeguard at the Condervale public pool. He was attractive, but totally not Courtney’s type, yet he always insisted on coming into her place of work to terrorize her with his endless flirting.  
As usual, he seated himself in Courtney’s section. She never complained, and tried to be as polite as possible. As she approached his table, the track on the jukebox changed to ‘Love At First Sight’ by The Brobecks.  
“Can I get you something to drink?” Courtney asked, putting on her best fake grin and pulling the order pad and pen from the pocket in her half-apron. Duncan turned to face her and smirked. His teal eyes were startling, glinting with enough mischief to make Loki jealous.  
“Anything that’ll get you to sit with me Princess.”  
She looked towards Heather, who snickered under her breath, and Courtney scowled before turning back with an even-faker smile plastered onto her face, “We’ve gone over this before Duncan. If you aren’t going to order anything, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”  
Before she could turn to walk away, he shot out of his place in the booth, snatching the pen and order pad out of her hands. Courtney whirled, prepared to swiftly take it back, but he held up a hand, “Hang on just a second, would you?” He muttered, scribbling something onto the top piece of paper. After looking over it, Duncan nodded once, seemingly satisfied with his work, and handed them both back to her. The green-haired boy sketched a mock bow and made his way back towards the front doors. He raised an arm to Heather, who waved back, and exited the building the way he’d come.  
Courtney rolled her eyes and raised the order pad into her field of vision. A series of numbers was scrawled across the page. Her face heated slightly and she bit down on her lip. That boy was a nuisance and she didn’t want anything to do with him.  
Aggravated, she ripped off the sheet and shoved it in her apron pocket, sulking back toward Heather’s spot at the counter. The taller girl leaned onto the countertop and sighed dramatically,  
“Courtney’s in looove.”


	2. Chapter 2

Spring Break was Cody’s fourth favorite school holiday after Christmas break, summer break, and Labor Day. So naturally, he had to spend it all at the movie theater where Gwen, the hottest girl on earth, worked. Cody had had a crush on Gwen since before he could remember. They’d met in preschool, and he was instantly drawn to her brooding attitude and casual hatred toward humanity. Her tits were nice too.  
As Cody neared the theater doors, he walked up to the box office and tapped on the glass to get the attention of the boy standing inside. Noah turned, an annoyed look on his face at the possibility of another infuriating customer, but smiled when he registered that the face looking back into his own was Cody’s.  
“Hey kid,” Noah said through the weird vent in the window, “how’s it going?” He tugged on the bottom of the vest on his uniform to straighten it out.   
“Great!” Cody grinned, “my moms are out of town again so I have all of spring break to spend here and-“  
“Annoy the shit out of Gwen?” Noah interrupted, leaning onto the counter. Cody felt his cheeks heating as he vigorously shook his head. “You’re a bad liar.”   
“You’re mean.” Cody muttered, crossing his arms.  
Noah chuckled, “And you’re easy to mess with.” Cody ignored the smirk on Noah’s face and walked inside, channeling his best ‘cool guy’ demeanor.  
Gwen stood at the concessions counter, talking to a short red-headed girl ordering popcorn. Cody walked up, stopping as the fake ginger walked away. Cody smacked a hand onto the countertop and Gwen, startled, looked up to make eye contact. She immediately grimaced.  
“Good afternoon, Gwendolyn!” Cody exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly. Gwen, ignoring him, reached around his small frame to help the next customer; some freshman they went to school with named Cameron or something.   
After he walked away, Cody neared the counter again, “How’s it goin?”  
“Cody I seriously can’t talk right now.” The teal-haired girl said stiffly, turning her back to him again and quickly gesturing at the large group of people who were coming through the front doors. Cody shrugged, this happened pretty much every time he came, and ultimately decided not to bother her. He dejectedly walked to the ‘employees only’ door to the inside of the ticket booth and opened it, startling the skinny indian boy hiding within.  
“Holy shit!” Noah shrieked, running into the cash register behind him. Cody doubled over laughing and Noah registered it was him, a scowl settling over his face.  
“You’re such an idiot!” Cody yelled, scream-laughing even harder.  
“I hate you.” Noah said calmly, crossing his arms and turning back to help a woman and her small children who had just approached the window.  
Holding in another fit of giggles, Cody dropped on all fours, crouching on the box office floor to avoid being seen by anyone outside, and crawled between the sophomore’s legs, reaching for the stash of candy that he kept in here at all times. Noah, noticing him laying on his stomach on the floor beneath him, inhaled sharply, but Cody couldn’t see his face as he opened a box of Twizzlers. He flipped over to his back, sticking a single red rope of licorice in his mouth, and folded his arms over his head. Noah continued to avoid eye contact with him, the younger boy’s features schooled into an impressive poker face as he conversed with more patrons at the window. After handing them their tickets and watching them walk away, Noah looked down at Cody on the floor.  
“What the hell are you doing?”   
Cody smirked, speaking around the Twizzler in his mouth, “Eating Twizzlers.” The cranky indian boy reached down, snatching the candy out of Cody’s teeth. “My licorice!” Cody exclaimed, bolting into a sitting position, “that wasn’t nice.”   
It was Noah’s turn to laugh as Cody slowly stood. Cody wasn’t exactly short, but seeing as he was a year older than and two inches shorter than Noah certainly alluded to the fact that he was ‘vertically challenged’. He crossed his arms and fake pouted, causing Noah’s grin to grow wider. Cody wasn’t very good at staying angry with Noah since the younger boy was still his best friend. Cody looked away and a smile crept onto his lips,  
“You still sleeping over tonight?”

 

Courtney sat on her bed, turning the mostly-crumpled piece of paper in her hands, over and over. She sighed, flopping dramatically backward onto her comforter. Duncan was bad news. She didn’t know why she’d kept his number, only that she hadn’t stopped thinking about it all of the rest of her shift and long after she’d returned home. She had tossed her uniform on the bathroom floor and taken a shower, but had stomped back in after getting dressed to fish the scrap from her apron pocket. Heather had not stopped talking about it, and even called her once they were off to pander her for information.   
Deciding not to be pathetic anymore, Courtney balled up the paper once more and tossed it aggressively into the wastebasket under her desk. But not before she swiftly entered the number into her cellphone under the contact name: ‘Punk-An’. She stared at the screen for a moment, sitting cross legged on her bedroom floor, ridiculous ideas swirling around in her normally-organized thoughts.  
‘He’s nice now, he didn’t make any sexual comments today’, and ‘he can’t be that bad’ were among some of the more infuriating things she was mulling over.   
She slammed her phone onto the carpet with a loud groan.   
After a few moments, she calmly picked it up again, thoroughly reminding herself that this was a terrible idea. Nevertheless, she typed.

-”Hey.”


	3. Chapter 3

The diner was closed on Sundays. Which meant Courtney, who woke up late, had to find a way to spend the afternoon.  
She wandered around the house for a while, eating some breakfast and feeding her cat. She even had the time to sit down and write a few pages of her advanced literature essay. But boredom quickly consumed her and she flopped onto the couch, shooting a text message to her best friend.  
Bridgette, though she was supposed to be at work, responded with ridiculous speed.  
Bridgette Evans had been Courtney’s best friend since first grade. She was one of those beachy chicks who had grown up in California until age 6 and then moved to New York, two hours away from the coast. No beach, no waves, no turtles. Bridge loved turtles, and would not hesitate to talk about them every five seconds. And she still made the trip to the Sacket’s Harbor with her boyfriend Geoff and his family every summer.  
Of course, she was the head lifeguard at the Condervale Public Pool. She loved bossing Geoff and Duncan around from late spring and through summer.  
Courtney didn’t mind going to the pool. Except for when Duncan was working of course.  
But Bridgette assured her, over text, that Duncan didn’t have a shift today. This eased her mind enough and she changed into a swimsuit. Courtney wasn’t a huge fan of swimming in particular, but hanging out at the pool could be enjoyable.  
The Condervale Public Pool was about half a mile from Courtney’s house. It wasn’t quite close enough to walk, but also not quite far enough to take the bus. So she settled for walking and left. Though she had a coverup over her grey bikini, the March air was not forgiving and the 20 minute walk was spent in slightly uncomfortably cold silence. 

It didn’t take Courtney long to realize Bridgette had been lying.  
The blonde was leaning on the open front gate when Courtney arrived, a suspicious smirk plastered across her face. Courtney immediately knew there was something up, and she almost straight-up walked away when Duncan walked out from behind the snack bar. She shot a pained glare at her ‘best friend’ and walked straight past the punk, ignoring him as he followed her around the pool to the spot where she usually sat. She set down her drawstring bag and towel, removing her sunglasses and coverup, and sat on the edge of the pool. Duncan stood over her, arms crossed, “What’s with the silent treatment all of a sudden, princess?”  
Courtney’s gaze snapped upwards and she had to squint against the bright sunlight, “Don’t call me that.”  
“Okay…? But still, what did I do to deserve the honor of being ignored by you, your majesty?”  
Courtney rolled her eyes, looking away again as she caught a glimpse of Bridgette watching intently from inside the snack bar.  
“I don’t particularly want to talk to you,” she stated, crossing her arms, “after you didn’t respond to my text yesterday I figured you-“  
“You texted me?”  
“Yes I did. At approximately 9:26 la-“  
“I never got it.”  
Courtney blinked. “What?”  
“I never got the text.” Duncan repeated, taking a seat next to her on the water-cooled concrete.  
“Oh…” She muttered, not making eye contact with the green haired boy beside her.  
He seemed lost in thought for a moment before he turned abruptly to her, a revelation flashing in his ridiculously clear blue eyes, “Let me see your phone.”  
“Now why in hell would I-“  
“Just trust me for a second would you? God-“ He trailed off, hoisting himself from the ground and walking to where Courtney’s things were laid neatly on the pool chair and reached into her bag, claiming her phone in his palm and holding it out in front of him in silent triumph. She stared at him, not really sure how to react, since no one had ever just...ignored her like that before. Well, apart from Justin; he was just stupid and didn’t actually know any better.  
Duncan returned to where Courtney was sitting, holding the phone out to her.  
“Unlock it.”  
Courtney cautiously snatched her cell phone from the punk’s outstretched hand, slowly pressing the pad of her thumb to the home button. After a moment, the screen lit up with her home screen; a picture she had taken with Bridgette at the beach last summer, and she silently handed it back to Duncan.  
She watched him fiddle with it for a minute, no doubt trying to rifle through her pristinely organized app folders, until he obviously found what he had been looking for.  
His nodded once, turning the phone around so that she could see the screen, “you put my number in wrong.”  
Courtney just stared at him for a moment. That wasn’t possible. She looked at it multiple times in her thirty-minute-long contemplation of whether she was even going to reach out to him or not.  
“Well then how do I know you didn’t give me a fake number?” She said, aggravated now, trying with all of her being to convince herself that he was just some awful person instead of her being wrong.  
Because Courtney Hayden was never wrong. Especially when it came to stupid boys like Duncan Cross.  
But he shook his head, typing on her phone furiously for a few seconds and handing it back to her.  
“There. One number difference. Try and call that one.”  
She took the phone back from him, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to see the screen in the bright sunlight. When she finally found it, she pressed the call button, and held it away from her face as it began to ring.  
After a moment, something in the pocket of Duncan’s bright red, lifeguard-issue swim shorts started ringing loudly. He grinned, pulling open the Velcro and removing his violently-shaking cell phone.  
“See?” He smirked, “what did I tell ya?”  
Courtney sighed and ended the call with a swift tap of her index finger.  
She swore quietly under her breath as Duncan continued to smile at her, extremely pleased with himself.

This boy was going to be the death of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Heather’s birthday was Sunday night. So, after she left the pool and showered, Courtney headed to Tanaka Manor, a stupid-huge estate house on the other side of town. 

Heather’s family was crazy rich, with most of her lineage (her parents included) being renowned lawyers and doctors. Heather however, much to her father’s dismay, wanted nothing to do with the practice of law or medicine. And when she announced this matter-of-factly at a family dinner around six months ago, her father had decided she was too privileged and cut her off. 

Courtney had immediately offered a job at the diner, trying desperately to bring at least a little bit of change to her droning work days, and Heather had reluctantly accepted.   
Now, the senior was Courtney’s closest friend, apart from maybe Bridgette, and they spent a lot of their free time hanging out at each other’s houses. 

Courtney loved Heather’s house; a massive French Chateau-style mansion, complete with full on-call staff and butler.   
As she walked up the front steps and knocked on the towering double doors, Courtney fully expected the Tanaka’s butler, Josh, to open it; to greet her as he always did.   
But to her immediate dread, she heard Heather call from inside, “Duncan! Will you get the door? I bet it’s Courtney.”  
Courtney stumbled a step back. For a moment, she considered going back home; bringing Heather her gift at work tomorrow morning. But then again, she was bigger than that. She wasn’t going to let some dumbass boy prevent her from celebrating her best friend’s birthday.   
But as she heard the lock click, her stomach dropped to the ground. This was undoubtedly going to be the most uncomfortable encounter of her life.  
“Hey Princess,” Duncan purred as he opened the door, releasing the before-muffled sounds of laughing people and loud music. She smiled uncomfortably, trying not to be impolite, but not quite ready to actually speak to him.  
It wasn’t that Courtney wasn’t literally great at talking to boys, it was just that Duncan made her a very unique shade of nervous that she hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with yet. 

Swiftly ignoring the green-haired boy’s attempt at furthering the interaction, Courtney softly shouldered past him; eyes darting around the room for any sign of a familiar face. She saw Bridgette first, and made a b-line for where the blonde stood.   
“Courtney!” Bridgette exclaimed, wriggling her way out of Geoff’s arms and meeting her half-way. Courtney grinned, relieved to be slightly farther away from Duncan than before.   
“Hey.”  
“Are you okay? You seem upset.”  
“No, no I’m okay I promise.”   
“Okay well, why don’t you go find Heather? Last time I saw her, she was setting up ‘Just Dance’ in the game room.”  
Courtney nodded slowly, trying to shake the feeling that something was very wrong.

She set off across the living room.   
She found Heather quickly. Unfortunately though, since she was being slightly-too-aggressively pinned to the wall by Courtney’s least favorite person.  
Alejandro Burromuerto.  
Alejandro was an eel. A real snake of a human being who actively enjoyed ruining other people’s lives. Including Heather’s. Heather didn’t think this of course. She just saw him as a ‘smoking-hot little latino firecracker’. Courtney aggressively disagreed with this observation.   
As Courtney was formulating exactly thirty six ways she could have the snake imprisoned for one thing or another, Heather’s eyes cracked open lazily; noticing Courtney standing twenty feet away. She grinned, sliding her arms between Alejandro and herself and pushing him off.   
Courtney shot a glare at Alejandro, to which he responded with a quick flash of teeth before dramatically turning on his heel and strutting down the hall.   
“I thought you two broke up,” Courtney ground out, shoving her hands into the pockets of her cardigan. A guilty look passed over Heather’s face before she schooled into her classic bitch smirk.  
“We did.”   
Courtney rolled her eyes, turning around and heading back toward the living room.   
“Courtney look,” Heather called after her, “I know you don’t like him but it’s just…it’s too tempting to say no to.”   
Without turning back Courtney sighed, “You don’t need a guy to be worth something Heather.” 

 

A few hours later, Courntey sat in the game room; lounging half-awake in a recliner, watching a half-drunk Bridgette miserably failing at Just Dance against Duncan. He was surprisingly good at it, and Courtney couldn’t deny that she kind of enjoyed watching.   
When the song ended, Bridgette approached, drink in hand, and pulled Courtney from the chair.  
“You need a drink.” Bridgette muttered, tugging Courtney by the wrist to where the coolers sat at the far end of the room.  
“No that’s okay Bridge-”  
“No no no no Courtney Hayden, you need to loosen up.” She drawled, pulling a beer from the biggest cooler and shoving it into Courtney’s open palm. “If you don’t drink this I’m going to be mad.”  
Courtney chuckled, feigning offense, “Oh no, Bridgette don’t be mad at me.” So, just to humor her best friend; tripping over herself and unable to articulate words quite right, Courtney drank it.  
And three more after that.   
And maybe a few after that.  
By 2 am, Courtney had lost count. People and words became blurry as the hours seemed to pass by like minutes.   
“You okay there Princess?” Courtney couldn’t remember when Duncan had sat down next to her. She had confined herself to the couch after beer number 3 and hadn’t moved since.  
“Wha you mean?” Court slurred, a stupid grinned plastered on her face as she reached up and poked Duncan’s firmly-hairsprayed mohawk. She hiccuped and a smile crept onto his previously-concerned face. Courtney began to mumble something to herself as she played with, now using both hands, the top of the neon green shark fin.  
Duncan chuckled, shifting to lean over the back of the couch and yell at Heather in the other room, “Hey Heather!”  
“What!?”  
“I’m going to take Courtney home!”  
“Okay!”  
Pleased with the simplicity of talking to Intoxicated Heather, Duncan returned his focus to Courtney. “Alright Princess, let’s get you home.”  
He stood, leaning down and scooping her up bridal style since she was more than light enough to easily carry outside. Upon reaching the long winding driveway, he opened the passenger side door of his car, tossing the half-empty carton of cigarettes on the seat into the back, and carefully placed her inside, reaching over her to fasten the seatbelt around her torso.  
Duncan thought Courtney was physically perfect. Maybe not wholly so, but on the outside at least. So it took a fair amount of willpower to avoid getting distracted by being this close to her. Shaking his head vigorously at the thought, he pulled his head out of his ass and also the open passenger side door.  
He got in to the driver’s side, put the keys in the ignition, started the car, and drove off.


End file.
